Hot Rods win 5th straight with 7-2 Win over Rome Braves
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Bowling Green Hot Rods (19-11) set their new season-high with their fifth consecutive win on Sunday, 7-2 against the Rome Braves (15-15) at Bowling Green Ballpark in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Monday is an off-day for the league and the Hot Rods start a six-game series with the Aberdeen IronBirds on Tuesday.
The scoring started with the Hot Rods in the bottom of the fourth inning off Braves starter Alan Rangel. Pedro Martinez led off with a triple and Blake Hunt walked in the next at-bat. Ruben Cardenas singled to bring in Martinez and moved Hunt to third. Niko Hulsizer brought them all in, hitting a ball off the batter’s eye in dead center field for a home run to give the Hot Rods a 4-0 lead.
Against Bowling Green starter Joe La Sorsa in the top of the fifth, Jesse Franklin V hit a solo home run to cut the Braves deficit to 4-1. The Hot Rods added two runs in the sixth against Rome reliever Trey Riley. Hunt reached on an error by Braves shortstop Beau Philip to lead off the inning. He advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Cardenas. Bowling Green scored one more in the inning on a bases-loaded walk to Evan Edwards to make it a 6-1 lead.
The Braves scored one more run in the top of the seventh against Hot Rods pitcher Evan McKendry. Franklin hit his second homer of the night to make it a 6-2 game. Bowling Green immediately got the run back in the bottom of the seventh against Rome pitcher Gabriel Noguera. Martinez hit a solo home run to expand the lead to 7-2. Rome was held scoreless over the last two innings by McKendry, and the Hot Rods won 7-2.
La Sorsa (2-0) tossed 5.0 innings, allowing three hits and one run in his second win of the year. Tanner Dodson pitched 1.0 inning, giving up a walk and striking out one. McKendry (3) hurled the final 3.0 innings, surrendering one run on three hits while striking out three in save.
